The Earth After Rebirth

When the call dropped, Freya immediately regretted calling her eldest. She had promised Sekani that she wouldn't, they wanted him to entirely focus on school. But she couldn't hold it in anymore, she thought she was going to explode if she tried.

She was extremely surprised by how calm and well Kiro had taken the news. He even offered to send them money, 500 creds wasn't a joke and weekly at that?

"Do you think he's gotten himself involved with a bad crowd?" She asked her husband, concern in her voice.

"If he wasn't, he is now." He reprimanded sternly.

"Well, what's that supposed to mean?"

"We promised, and you broke it. Kiro is out there worried now, doing gods knows what, figuring out how to be the man of this house, so we don't starve."

"Kiro is part of this family, he deserved to know."

Sekani simply ignored his wife. If he said anymore, he was afraid he'd say things he would regret. He still loved his wife, he didn't want a dumb argument to drive a wedge between them.

But he was still mad at her all the same. According to him, she had no right informing Kiro without so much as a word to him. She went behind his back and broke a promise but she won't acknowledge it. That made him hot with anger.

Just then, his phone's notification rang. He ignored it, a second notification made him take it out and look through what the fuss was about.

His stomach dropped when he saw it was from Kiro and he had really sent the money.

"What in the devil... what's that boy doing over there!"

His wife came closer and looked at the screen, sure enough, it was the money he promised them. Her mind went completely blank, she had no idea what to make of the situation.

She had originally thought Kiro was just trying to console her, she never expected for him to actually have this kind of money. She had never been to the middle of the 3 districts, so she had no idea how things worked there.

She surmised since it was a rich people area, student jobs paid that much and more, but even this reasoning sounded ridiculous to her.

The fact that he could've been using his tuition money never even crossed her mind.

Sekani got up, pulling his jacket from their wardrobe. Putting on his combat boots, his wife watched him dumbfounded.

"Honey, what are you doing?"

"If he's in a gang, I have to get him home. Do you have any idea what they have kids doing in those damn gangs."

"Calm down, this is your son, Kiro, do you not trust him?"

"He's a teenager Freya, they make dumb decisions all the time. It's my job as a father to set him straight."

Freya walked to her husband, he was visibly shaking, clearly scared of what might transpire if Kiro had joined a gang. His thoughts were full of his own father, he reckoned Kiro would disappear just as quick.

Freya slowly put her hand on his cheek, and caressed it gently like he was a wounded beast. He closed his eyes at the touch and warmth of the hand. This was something that always calmed him down.

"Don't do anything rush, we can't afford to lose you, all of us." She pronounced, caressing both her husband and her belly.

He gave a deep sigh, and sat down on their bed. His face buried deep in his hands. He had to find a job, he had to man up and find a job for his family.

"What are we going to do, darlin?" He said with a muffled voice.

She walked closer, and stood between his legs and made him embrace her. He kissed her belly, and looked up at his wife.

"We'll manage," she told him with a genuine smile on her face.

He smiled back, "you're so beautiful."

She kissed his forehead and pulled him closer for a hug, putting her arms around his neck, and just like that they diffused a ticking time bomb that threatened to incinerate their family.

The door creaked open, Alora was standing at their door with her staffed animal in hand. She was in her violet bunny jumpsuit pyjamas. She yawned, rubbing her eyes.

"What's wrong sweetheart?"

"You guys are noisy. Is it morning yet?" She yawned again.

They both chuckled and laughed, seeing their cute nonchalant daughter, they felt silly that they were at each other's throats a moment ago.

They had told both Loki and Alora about their layoffs. While Loki pretended it didn't concern him, Alora was happier as it meant, the 'bad jobs' wouldn't keep them away anymore.

It was morning, but it was still dark out. She climbed their bed, without so much as another word and fell asleep. She'd been having troubles with the transition.

She wasn't yet used to sleeping in her own bed, even though they bought her a new one since Kiro's wouldn't have been friendly on a small body such as hers.

They bribed her with everything within their means, things that wouldn't completely break their wallets but nothing worked. Most nights, she came to them and fell asleep quicker.

Sometimes they'd carry her back, sometimes they'd just let her sleep over.

Since it was already morning, they let her sleep and prepared for the day ahead. Sekani would go out, just like he had been doing since losing his job, go out looking for jobs. This time, he'd have to do grocery shopping too.

It was extremely hard finding jobs when you were fired by a big company such as the one they worked for. It was even harder getting menial jobs, as they'd be told they were overqualified.

They both showered and prepared breakfast for their kids, it was as if the fight never even occured between them, as they were dancing and all over each other, making breakfast for their family.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"I am, the last time I went to the doctor, she told me I should rest a lot. So I suppose what happened to us was a blessing in disguise."

He smiled, pulling her closer, "everything is a blessing with you, Freya darlin."

"Don't be gross." Loki commented as they were about to kiss.

He walked into the kitchen and sat down, grabbing the toasted bread, eggs and sausage.

"We should show you nothing but love my son, this is how you treat women."

"Sigh. What's the special occasion, why is the breakfast this nice today?"

They both looked at each other and laughed. She lovingly ruffled her son's hair. Loki tried his best to get his mother to stop.

"I ought to give you a haircut!"